Bray update, Fehr, Goodyear

Talked to reliever Bill Bray, who has not been on the game schedule to pitch because he’s catching up from a sore shoulder at the start of camp. Bray had a smooth live BP session on Thursday and is scheduled for two more of those on Saturday and Tuesday.

Bray is going to change his off-season program and do more to prevent recurring soreness, including throwing throughout the winter.

“I’m probably going to work a lot more closely with a physical therapist next year,” Bray said. “I did all my own stretching and arm program and I still had problems when I started throwing. I think it’s going to take more than just me. It’s going to take someone to stretch me out better than I can do on my own.”

Bray came down with sore shoulders in both 2007 and 2008.

“I’m tired of it,” he said. “Anything I can do to avoid this again, I will definitely do. It’s pretty annoying coming down here and getting behind.”

Last year, Bray still worked a career-high 63 games and posted a 2.87 ERA.

MLBPA executive director Don Fehr held a 90 minute meeting with the players inside the clubhouse. Fehr, as usual, used many words without describing the details of the meeting.

“We’re not in a bargaining year so the subjects you cover aren’t as expansive,” Fehr said. “There wasn’t as much detail. This meeting had one characteristic a lot of other meetings don’t. Usually if a meeting is supposed to start at 8:30, we close the door at 8:30 but we don’t start until 10 until nine. This one started right at 8:30. Dusty runs a tight ship. He wants to go work.”

As for Alex Rodriguez and the identity of the still-sealed 103 names of players that tested positive for PEDs in 2003, Fehr said it came up.

“In the meetings we have, it is a topic of current interest and obviously we go over it,” Fehr said. “We sent a long memo to players 10 days ago explaining what happened. But we go over it and explain it, especially to the younger players that weren’t here in 2003-04 and don’t remember that the testing program is different than what we have now.”

“I think there is generally a level of concern anyone has when you have matters — which by contract and at this point court order — are supposed to remain confidential that they should remain confidential. It’s hard to characterize it beyond that.”

Reds assistant GM Bob Miller was back in town after a trip to Goodyear, Ariz., to see the new Spring Training ballpark. The Indians opened it the other day and the reviews from Miller were very positive. The little of the stadium I could see on ESPN during some Indians-Giants highlights looked pretty cool.

I was out in Arizona in September and went to Goodyear to take a tour of the Indians site one morning. I was impressed and I know that the Reds’ half of the complex will look very similar. My MLB.com colleague and former Reds scribe, Anthony Castrovince, told me that the complex and stadium are awesome.

It’s a shame the Reds have to leave Sarasota but the baseball amenities in Goodyear can’t come close to being matched by what’s currently at Ed Smith Stadium. The travel time for games will also be much easier on everyone.

Question of the day: Would you go to Arizona to see the Reds at Spring Training?

Also from Fox Sports Ohio: You won’t want to miss the special Reds Classic Rewind coming up this Monday, March 2 at 10:30 p.m. Tune in for the telecast of the October 12, 1976 NLCS Reds vs. Phillies game, which includes original video synced with Reds broadcast audio, featuring Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall. The first and only version of the game to ever be broadcast will be hosted by Reds Live co-host, Jeff Piecoro.

I’ve been to Sarasota. I doubt I will make the trip to Arizona. It’s too far and too much effort to go to a place with no beaches. What is there to do in the area? Are there any state parks? Anything else to do to take advantage of the warmer temperatures (besides golf)? Let’s face it – even the most diehard of us don’t want to sit in the ballpark for an entire week.

Daedalus — I can’t answer all of those questions at the moment but I know it’s not that desolate. It’s only 20 miles west of a major city — Phoenix. I believe there are parks around Camelback Mountain, where the hiking is supposed to be remarkable. There are also a couple of mountains pretty close to the new complex. Scottsdale and Tempe are probably 30-40 minutes away and they are cool towns. But obviously – there is nothing in Arizona that can compete with the beaches near Sarasota. That’s the big one.

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